Gage attachment for scissors.



E. M. SYLVESTER.

GAGE ATTACHMENT FOR SCISSORS.

APPLICATION- FILED FEB. 11, |9l 6.

Patented July 4, 1916.

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GAGE ATTACHMENT FOR SCISSORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Application filed February 11, 1916. Serial No. 77,610.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ETTA MIARS SYLvEs- TER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gage Attachments for Scissors, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to a measuring gage attachable to one of the handles of a pair of scissors or shears, and adapted to cooperate with an edge of a piece of fabric being cut by the scissors in causing the line of the cut to progress in a direction parallel with said edge, so that a strip of uniform width may be cut from the piece without the necessity of previously marking the piece to indicate the line of cut, the gage being adjustable so that the width of the cut strip may be varied.

The invention is embodied in certain improvements in a gageof this character, having for their object convenience of operation, cooperation of the attachment with either a right or a left fabric edge, and simplicity, economy and durability of construc- Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification: Figure 1 represents a plan view of an attachment embodying my invention secured to a pair of scissors; Fig. 2 represents a section on line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 represents a section on line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4.represents a perspective view of the bracket shown in section by Fig. 3; Fig. 5 represents a perspective view of the outer end portion of the shank hereinafter referred to; Fig.6 represents a perspective view of the slidable hooked fingers hereinafter referred to; Fig. 7 represents a section on line 77 of Fig. 1, showing the device engaged with a lefthand fabric edge; Fig. 7 represents a View similar to Fig. 7 showing the device en- .gaged with a right-hand fabric edge.

The same reference characters indicate the same or similar parts in all the views.

My improved attachment comprises three general parts, all made of fiat sheet metal, ',viz., a bracket indicated as a whole by the reference letter a. in Fig. 4, a flat-sided shank 12 supported by thebracket, and a flat-sided gage bar 13 supported by the shank and extending at right angles therewith. Thebracket is composed of a flatsided sheet metal strip bent to form a narsides of said shank guide to friction'ally confine the shank 12, said means being embodied in a screw 19 engaged with one of.

the arms '15 and passing through an orifice 20 in the other arm, and a clamping nut 21 engaged with said screw. A tube or washer 22 is preferably interposed between the nut and the upper bracket arm. The length of the shank 12 is such that its outer end is in advance of the points of the scissors blades, the shank being preferably elongated, as shown by Figs. 1 and 2, so that the attachment may be applied to scissors or shears of different lengths.

The outer end of the shank 12 is provided with a transverse bar guide in which the gage bar 13 is adjustably confined. Said guide is preferably formed by bending the shank 12 to form a neck 24 and an arm 25' overhanging the body portion of the shank. Said arm preferably has downwardly bent cars 26 (Fig. 5) bearing on the inner edge of the gage bar, said ears and the neck 24, which bears on the outer edge of the gage bar, preventing the bar from swinging from its position at right angles with the shank. Clamping pressure is applied to force the sides of the guide toward each other and frictio-nally secure the gage bar, by means such as ascrew 27 engaged with the body portion of the shank l2 and extending through an orifice '28 (Fig. 5) in the arm 25, and a clamping nut 29 engaging said screw.

The gage bar 13 is provided with a hooked gage finger adapted to slidingly engage an "edge of a piece of fabric 30, shown by dotted lines in Figs. 7 and 7% I prefer to provide two hooked fingers3l and 32 facing in opposite directions, one arranged to engage a left-hand edge and the other a right-hand edge. The finger 31 is preferably formed by bending one end portion of the gage bar, and is therefore fixed to the bar. The finger 32 is adjustable on the bar,

and as here shown is formed on a slide 33 having ears 34 embracing and having a close sliding fit on the edges of the gage bar.

In operating scissors provided'with the described attachment, the scissors are held by the right hand of the operator and the fabric by the left hand. In cutting a strip from the left-hand ed e portion of the fabric 30, the left-hand edge is engaged with the hooked finger 31, as indicated by Fig. 7 The gage bar therefore guides the scissors in a path parallel with the left-hand edge of the fabric, so that a strip of uniform width is cut from the fabric, the width of the strip being determined by the longitudinal adjustment of the gage bar, whereby the finger 31 is located at any desired distance from the line of the cut. In cutting a strip from the right-hand edge portion of the fabric the right-hand edge is engaged with the finger 32, the latter being adjusted on the gage bar to the required distance from the line of out.

It will now be seen that provision is made for cutting a strip of uniform and any desired width from either edge portion of a piece of fabric. The fixed finger 31 may be engaged with the right-hand edge of the fabric, by reversing the position of the gage bar, so that said finger will face toward the left, the sliding finger 32 being omitted. I prefer to employ the two fingers however for the sake of convenience.

The sheet metal construction of the bracket, shank, and gage bar enables said parts to have wide bearings, so that they are firmly secured in their adjusted position by friction, and cannot turn relatively to each other. Said construction also renders the attachment as a whole so light that its weight is not objectionable.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A gage attachment for scissors, comprising a fiat-sided elongated shank having means for engaging a scissors handle and arranged relatively to said means to extend beside and substantially parallel with the scissors blades, said shank having a flatsided transverse guide at its outer end and means for pressing the sides of said guide toward each other, and a gage bar adjustably confined in said guide and extending at right angles with the shank in advance of the points of the scissors blades, said bar being provided with a hooked finger adapted to slidingly engage an edge of a piece of fabric.

2. A gage attachment for scissors, comprising a fiat-sided elongated shank having means for engaging a scissors handle and arranged relatively to said means to extend beside and substantially parallel with the scissors blades, said-shank having a flatsided transverse guide at its outer end and means for pressing the sides of said guide toward each other, and a gage bar adjustably confined in said guide and extending at right angles with the shank in advance of the points of the scissors blades, said bar being provided with a fixed hooked finger facing in one direction to engage one edge of a piece of fabric, and with a slidable hooked finger facing in the'opposite direction to engage another edge.

3. A gage attachment for scissors, comprising a handle-engaging bracket composed of a flat-sided metal strip bent to form two arms, a neck connecting said arms, and

hooked jaws at the outer ends of the arms,

said neck and portions of said arms forming a flat-sided shank guide, a flat-sided shank movable endwise in said guide and extending at right angles with the bracket, means for exerting clamping pressure on the bracket arms to simultaneously bind the jaws on a scissors handle and the sides of the shank guide on said shank, the outer end of the shank being bent to form a neck and an arm overhanging the body of the shank, said body, neck and arm constituting a flat-sided bar guide at right angles with the shank guide, a gage bar movable endwise in'the bar guide, means for exerting clamping pressure on the said body and ear to bind the sides of the bar guide on said gage bar, and a hooked finger carried by the gage bar and adapted to slidingly engage an. edge of a piece of fabric, the relative arrangement of the bracket, shank and gage bar being such that when the bracket is secured to a scissors handle the shank extends substantially parallel with the scissors blades and-the gage bar at right angles with said blades and in'advance of the points thereof.

4-. A gage attachment for scissors, comprising a flat-sided shank bent at its outer end to form a neck and an arm overhanging the body of the shank, said body, neck and arm constituting a fiat-sided guide at right angles with the shank, means for connecting said shank with a scissors handle in a posi-,

tion substantially parallel with the scissors blades, and a flat-sided transverse gage bar adjustablv held by said guide substantially at right angles with said shank and in advance of the points of the scissors, said bar being provided with oppositely facing hooked fingers, one of which is fiXed to the barl and adapted to slidingly engage one edge of a piece of fabric, While the other is adjustable 0n the bar and is adapted to slidingly engage an opposite edge.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

ETTA MIARS SYLVESTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

